President's
PERSPECTIVE
"His wisdom and
experience will be missed by the entire industry.
"
THIS HAS BEEN a month of emotional highs and lows.
One of the nice things I get to do as AMA president is present the Hall of Fame awards to many
inductees. This is one of the things I look forward to. Unfortunately, sometimes this means
making a posthumous presentation to the family of the inductee.
John Grigg, with whom I served on the Executive Council for many years, died in August, 1996.
He was voted into the Hall of Fame this past year, and a celebration banquet was held in
Lockport NY for the presentation. It was great to see the number of people who attended.
I presented the plaque to John's wife, Joan Grigg, amongst a flood of pictures and memories of
John's life in model aviation. It was a great success, and it kindled a lot of great memories of my
travels with John while he was AMA president.
Some of the pictures were somewhat incriminating! If you see any of that gang, perhaps they can
explain the gorilla, or maybe they will show you that picture of District III VP Bob Brown
wearing the wildest pair of bell-bottoms you have ever seen!
It was a great evening, even though it was difficult in many ways to accept John's passing.
When I arrived home the next day, there was terrible news on my
answering machine: Frank Garcher of Midwest Products had died of a heart attack on Saturday
morning. AMA, and all of aeromodeling, lost a great friend on May 22.
Few have any idea of the contributions Frank made. Any time you heard of a program
introducing kids to aeromodeling, Frank's name was not too far away. He supported programs for
kids in more ways than I can count, and was a strong supporter of AMA.
Frank was the point man for almost every cooperative program between the aeromodeling
industry and the AMA. When it came time to raise funds to support various AMA programs,
Frank was leading the effort. Frank was a big man in the industry, both figuratively and literally.
His wisdom and experience will be missed by the entire industry. He was nicknamed "Big
Stoop," after the character in the old Terry and the Pirates, as a tribute to his dogged loyalty and
reliability. It was a moniker that he wore proudly.
At his funeral, his son-in-law said it best: "Frank had three loves in his life beyond his family:
airplanes, music, and people."
As Frank had requested, some Dixieland music was played at the funeral as the final tribute. That
was so much like him, as he was the consummate party person. Frank never saw a piano or banjo
player he wouldn't get up and sing with. The parties he hosted at the Toledo show were
legendary, and always featured a banjo player and Dixieland jazz.
During the calling hours, someone said it quite well: "If anyone proposes a moment of silence for
Frank Garcher, it would have to be someone who didn't know him.
Ironically, right after hearing the news on my answering machine, I opened the mail and found
the July Model Aviation. In Joyce Hager's column was a picture of Frank, along with Ralph
Warner, presenting me with checks from RCHTA in support of AMA's education programs.
Frank always supported any effort to get aeromodeling into the classrooms. His company,
Midwest Products, is one of the only companies in our industry to have a full-time education
department.
That picture of Frank was probably the last "official" photograph taken of him. It showed him
well, smiling up a storm, and presenting the results of a fund-raising effort to support
aeromodeling.
I think Frank's son-in-law got it close, but not quite right. Frank loved people first, followed by
airplanes and music, in whichever order. Frank was the biggest "people person" I've ever known.
I'm sure if St. Peter asked Frank what he wanted, he would answer: "Balsa, a banjo player, and an
audience." That would define heaven for Frank Garcher.
We'll sure miss him.
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